PASIR MAS – The 8th Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF8) received information that a group of migrants from Myanmar are hiding and waiting to sneak into Malaysia through a rat trail along the Malaysia-Thailand border.
Its commanding officer Mat Shukor Yusof said the information was received from the Thai authorities and was regarded as believable.
“A few weeks ago, we received information that a group of Myanmar nationals was already in Golok town, across the border and ready to enter Malaysia.
“It was said that a syndicate was behind this and it had been harbouring the group for quite some time but was now forced to send them to Malaysia as soon as possible as they were no longer willing to bear the cost of keeping them near the border.”
He said this at a news conference held at the Lubok Setul GOF Tactical headquarters here today.
Mat Shukor said that following the latest information received, GOF8 believes that more Myanmar nationals will try to sneak into Malaysia in small groups but more frequently.
“In an incident at 6.20pm yesterday, 13 migrants from Myanmar including two women aged 20 and above 40 were detained in a raid conducted in Kg Bakong here.
“They were suspected of just having entered Malaysia via a rat trail before being found hiding among the bushes. The inspection conducted found that all of them had no valid documents to enter this country.
“All of them were then handed over to the Pasir Mas district police headquarters for further action under Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963,” he added.
He also said that from February 16 until today, PGA8 had detained 59 migrants from Myanmar comprising 49 men, nine women and a male child. – Bernama, March 17, 2022
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